


We were together (the rest doesn't matter)

by entertheinferno



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Kirk has an unhealthy habit of bottling up his emotions don't even try to deny it, Leonard likes taking photographs, M/M, Road Trip, Schmoop, post - Into Darkness, sort of, they're both really dumb
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-05
Updated: 2014-01-05
Packaged: 2018-01-07 13:23:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1120326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/entertheinferno/pseuds/entertheinferno
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Enterprise isn’t that large which means that it’s very hard to find a place that isn’t inhabited by someone else unless you’re in your cabin, and even then it doesn’t take much for your solitude to be interrupted but even infamous boy geniuses need time alone and Jim knows who to go to when he needs to hide.</p>
<p>The fact that Scotty told Bones where to go, bribe or not, makes him wonder whether Jim really does want to be alone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	We were together (the rest doesn't matter)

**Author's Note:**

> Jimbones fic, requested by Anja who wanted Leonard with a camera because i sent her a lot of dumb asks.
> 
> Comments are love please be kind, thank you.

They’re going on shore leave in two days and Leonard can’t find Jim.  He’s seen him twice this week, which under usual circumstances wouldn’t bother him in the slightest, except that Jim has been unusually quiet since he came back from the dead and Leo is worried.

He shouldn’t be.  He should be relieved that Jim isn’t lounging around the medical bay every time he turns around.  He should be glad that their oh-so-vigilant captain is finally taking his responsibilities seriously, growing up a bit.  Should be happy that he’s not being called to the bridge three times a day just so Jim can ask him a stupid question.

The problem is that he’s not.  He looks at Jim and he sees him dead, pale and silent lying on the sterile surface of a gurney, and underneath he sees the bruised and broken face of the kid he met on the shuttle to the academy.  There is no in between and it’s almost as infuriating as the way Jim refuses to talk about dying, won’t talk about Pike.  Jim won’t talk about anything and Leonard knows he’s broken in more ways than one and he’s a doctor damn it, his job is to fix what’s broken but Jim won’t let him.

It turns out the easiest way to find out where the hell his captain has run off too is by bribing Scotty and honestly, the Enterprise isn’t as big as it seems it shouldn’t be this hard to find Jim.  He shouldn’t have to stoop to bribes but he does and less than ten minutes later he’s sitting on the floor next to Jim on a suspiciously empty part of the ship.

The Enterprise isn’t that large which means that it’s very hard to find a place that isn’t inhabited by someone else unless you’re in your cabin, and even then it doesn’t take much for your solitude to be interrupted but even infamous boy geniuses need time alone and Jim knows who to go to when he needs to hide.

The fact that Scotty told Bones where to go, bribe or not, makes him wonder whether Jim really does want to be alone.

"So I figured I oughtta go back to Iowa."

He doesn’t say he wants to see Winona, just avoids eye contact and fumbles over the words, but Bones sees it in the cant of Jim’s head and the way he holds his hands close to his body, protecting the thing he pretends to wear on his sleeve.  So he nods his head and tells him it’s not like he’s got anything better to do so he might as well come with him.  And it’s true, because he doesn’t have anything else to go back to, he’s just got Jim and sometimes it feels like he’s the only important thing left to hold onto.  Jim doesn’t need one more person telling him that though.

"Someone’s gotta make sure you pass out in some bar in the middle of god-knows-where."

Jim laughs and Bones smiles and for a minute he forgets about death and broken pieces.

—-

Two days later Leo’s got a bag full of things he doesn’t need and barely enough clothes to last him a week let alone the month they’ll be on the ground but he just pretends he doesn’t know and follows his captain off the ship.

They end up taking the wrong shuttle out of San Francisco because Jim is flirting with an attractive Orion who Leonard has never seen but apparently is a cadet on the Enterprise.  He feels the familiar tug in his stomach as he watches them, wishes he could take Jim’s calloused hands in his own, trace the scars on Jim’s knuckles, pretend to make the bruises disappear from under his skin. 

Instead he knocks Jim when they realize they’re headed towards Nevada not Iowa and pretends not to notice the way Jim’s feet tap on the floor of the shuttle, just offers the kid his flask and half a smile.

And if Leo’s mood is improved when they get off a days drive away from Riverside instead of 40 minutes because Jim’s bony elbow was shoved in between his ribs and he fell asleep with his head on Leo’s shoulder, well.  Neither of them mention it.

—-

They have to rent a car because Jim’s motorbike is in San Francisco and Leo hasn’t needed a car since he sold his soul to Starfleet and the unpredictable, risk taking moron who’s sitting behind the wheel of the piece of shit they’re going to drive 1,600 miles.

It’s past noon and Jim told him 20 miles back he wanted to drive through the night and Leo just shrugged, made sure they had shifts worked out.

He can still see the stress in Jim’s shoulder blades, counts the beats of the irregular rhythm he’s tapping out on the steering wheel and cringes when Jim turn on the radio and almost immediately starts crooning along to whatever god awful country western ballad is being broadcasted from some shitty university station.

He wants to lean over and kiss the planes of Jim’s face and tell him that it’s going to be okay.  That they saved the world twice, that he died and came back, that Winona is proud of him and that she loves him.  That he’s not as much of a stupid, reckless kid anymore, that he can go home and it’s not going to be the same as it was.  He wants to mumble unhelpful words of comfort into Jim’s neck until he sees the stress dissolved into particles and float away like an exploding star.

Instead he cuffs the back of Jim’s head and tells him that if they’re going to be stuck in this clunker for more than 24 hours he better at least play some better music.

"Technically the drive is only 22 hours."

"Smartass."

While Jim is laughing, head tilted back, eyes closed against the afternoon sun, Leo pulls out his banged up Nikon and snaps a picture, grimacing through his laugh when Jim elbows him in the stomach and cursing when they swerve off the road.

—-

The ride is definitely going to take more than 24 hours.

Jim figures since they’re already off course there’s no harm in taking the scenic route and Leo can’t say he disagrees but he grouses about it anyway.  They don’t have a clue where they are and there’s no map in the glove box so his disapproval isn’t misplaced.  Anyway, if Jim Kirk starts to get his way without having a barrier to overcome the world will dissolve into anarchy.

Leo is rather fond of the world they live in right now, thank you very much and he’s not sure where he’d be if he wasn’t Jim’s barrier (and his bridge.)

As it is, they make more stops when Leo is driving than when Jim is.  He’s got a photographer’s soul nestled behind his doctor’s heart, and he hasn’t used his cameras since the divorce.  Out in the open, Jim is too tempting a subject to pass up.

The scenery is beautiful enough on it’s own but he spends more time watching Jim wander along the dusty back roads, hair illuminated gold in the sun, eyes sparkling with ease, than he does actually taking pictures.

—-

When he’s not inadvertently playing at being a broken angel (but really when isn’t he) Jim is fucking with Leo’s stuff.

There really isn’t much in his bag aside from a few worn t-shirts wrapped around an assortment of camera equipment and a pair of jeans older than the bones Jim nicknamed him after.

It’s the lenses that fascinate Jim most, god knows why, and he pulls them out of Leo’s mess of clothes one by one, eyes wide.  He spends almost 15 minutes in enraptures silence, fiddling with the aperture, focusing and unfocusing the lens before Leo says something.

"Never seen a camera before kid?"

Jim just rolls his eyes, fumbling with the aperture on the telephoto lens and pointing it in Leo’s direction.

"I swear to god if you break that they won’t even _find_ your bones.”

This time Jim’s the one who laughs and Leo pulls over onto the side of the road so they can switch again. He hears the click of the shutter when his back is turned and he turns around before he’s fully registered what’s happening. Jim is smirking happily from behind the lens and he takes another picture of Bones’s scowl, childlishly satisfied.

"Did you even check the light meter?"

Leo’s more exasperated than angry and he saunters over to Jim, knocking him hard in the shoulder with his own.

"Look, you’ve gotta check your exposure otherwise the picture isn’t even going to come out."

Jim looks at him blankly and Leo sighs, sliding behind him and slipping his arms under Jim’s to grab the camera.

They’re pressed up back to front, two bodies, one sillhouette against the setting sun and when Leo stops his monologuing for long enough to notice he wishes they had someone to take their picture.

Jim is looking up at him through his eyelashes, lips quirked up in that “Hi, I’m Captain Kirk I saved the world twice, nice to meetcha” smirk and Leo forgets everything else.

There’s the brief, dry press of Jim’s lips against his own and his nose bumps Jim’s cheek but before he can do anyting about the clenching feeling in his chest Jim is gone, snapping one more picture of Leo before he slides into the driver’s seat.

"I checked the aperture this time."

—-

They don’t talk about it.

It feels like something they should talk about because Leo is straightforward when it comes to relationships but Jim is fuck and run and one night stands and drunken relations and this is not the Jim Kirk Leo is used to.

Granted he’s gotten marginally better. He’s still an incessant flirt and he’s terrible at anything long term which is why he doesn’t ever bother trying, but he’s not really a player in the proverbial game anymore.

That being said he’s also not exactly the type Leo would ever peg as sentimental, that’s more his cup of tea when it comes to relationships, but he can’t think of any other word to describe what’s happening right now.

Jim is all reverent touches and quiet heart and Leo is not equipped to handle this appropriately.

He knows how to deal with Jim at his very worst, when he’s cocksure and insane, when he’s prepared to break every rule just to prove a point, but this, this is not something he knows how to react to.

Because he loves Jim, he’s known that for a while now.  It’s hard not to love Jim which Leo is sure everyone learns the hard way some time or another but it’s hard to know what to do when Jim loves you back. 

It’s frightening and new and watching Jim drive with his hand on the back of Bones’s neck, playing with his hair, feels a little bit like getting onto the shuttle to Starfleet that first time.  And he’s still with Jim but they’re both a little older and a little less stupid and it’s all new.

New and as exhilarating as it is frightening so Leo figures the best thing to do is smile and let it play out.  There’s no getting in Jim’s way once he’s figured out he wants something. 

The least Leo can do is document it.

—-

When they finally get to Riverside they both smell cigarettes and stale beer.  Jim is asleep in the backseat, sprawled across the peeling leather like a cat, using Leo’s borrowed duffle as a pillow. 

It’s four in the morning and they’ve been driving for two days so Bones pulls into the first motel he sees and half drags half carries Jim into the room he gets for the both of them. 

They didn’t have a double and Bones is too tired to think about possible consequences or have any of the second thoughts he would normally have if he were perfectly cognizant so instead he dumps Jim’s ass on top of the bed and, after carrying their things inside, climbs in next to him. 

When they wake up Jim’s got one arm wrapped around Leo’s midsection the other one thrown over his eyes to block the early morning sun and Leo can’t feel his legs. 

It’s been a long time since he woke up like this and he smiles to himself before pushing Jim off of him, grumbling loudly.  Jim is, apparently, very clingy in the mornings, and he climbs back onto Leo, pressing sticky kisses into his collarbone.  Despite the fact that it’s actually a really pleasant feeling Leo has to piss and he pushes Jim off a bit too hard, and he ends up on the floor, blinking blearily up at him.

For the most part Jim doesn’t even hold it against Leo after he fucks with the shower while Leo is in it so the water only runs cold.

Leo figures he really must’ve made an impression on the kid if all he gets is a cold shower and kisses from behind after waking up Jim and his hangover.

—-

They eat breakfast at a diner on the corner and Jim is quiet the whole time.  It’s an abrupt change from his attitude earlier and Leo is frustrated but sympathetic.

"Hey y’know they’ve gotta dark room facility in Iowa City."

Jim glances at him, eyebrows raised questioningly.

"We took quite a few pictures Jim, unless you wanna get home quick, we could drive up there and develop them.  It’s only twenty minutes away."

"I know how far away Iowa City is Bonesy I grew up here.  Let’s go."

He’s halfway out the door before he’s even finished talking and Leo shakes his head, leaves cash on the table and follows him out.

—-

The thing about being at the academy with Jim is that Bones knows all of his quirks.  Specifically he knows that the best way to get Jim to doing something he doesn’t want to do is to distract him first.

It’s what he used to do to get Jim to study with him before their exams and it’s what he’s doing now, even though he’s sure Jim knows it this time around.

Neither of them seem to care that much.

They’re quiet during the ride, Jim drives, one hand wrapped around Leo’s the whole time.

It takes them a little over ten minutes of arguing for them to convince the proprietor of the facility that yes, they do know what they’re doing and they won’t blow anything up before the guy finally let’s them in.

Bones shows Kirk how to process the film and they sit together, agitating the film. 

Jim’s voice is loud in the quiet, compact space, and he tells Leo stories about growing up, crazy stories that sound more made up than real.

They sit side by side, shoulder pressed together, hands brushing whenever they move.  Bones can’t keep the smile off his face and Jim kisses him on the nose like this isn’t a thing that they need to be addressed.  Like it’s not the elephant in the room that’s threatening to trample them almost as much as Jim’s refusal to discuss any of the things that have happened to him.

It’s a little frustrating but everything with Jim is so Bones figures he ought to just let it happen.  He’s happy and that’s not exactly a frequent occurrence.

—-

Pulling prints is the most rewarding part of film photography and it’s what makes the pain staking process worth it for Bones.  It’s the ability to create something with the hands that usually just fix things.  It’s just another aspect of his job but it’s different and refreshing and he wants to see the look on Jim’s face when he pulls the first print because it always feels a little bit like magic.

No matter how advanced technology gets, no matter how long he spends with things that can knit skin back together right before his eyes, the simple things are what amaze him the most.  Call him a traditional fool and he’ll wear the label proudly.

The red light dulls everything, makes the hard angles of Jim’s face softer, younger.  It doesn’t dim the surprise and joy that Leo expected to see when he slides the first print into the develop. 

Jim overexposed the paper and the details are lost but Leo knows what the picture is anyway.  It’s the one Jim took right after they kissed and the look on his face is something he doesn’t want to talk about because it’s too close to the look on his face in his wedding photos.  It’s fierce and loving and when Bones finally looks up Jim is standing right in front of him, face stretched up in a ridiculous grin.

"I hate you."

"No you don’t you want to kiss me and marry me and stay with me forever."

"You’re an ass Jim."

"Ooh what a gentleman, I’m swooning."

Before Leo even has a chance to respond scathingly he’s got an insistent mouth pressed against his. 

Jim crowds him against the counter, knocks his shoulder against one of the enlargers, and sucks Leo’s tongue into his mouth.  It’s fast and hot and dirty and exactly what Leo knows to expect from Jim.  This is the Jim he knows how to deal with and he kisses him back hard, pressing back against the hard lines of his body. 

The more demanding Jim gets the more humorous the situation seems and Leo grins against Jim’s mouth, pulling away to press the foreheads together.

"Whazza."  Jim’s mouth is swollen and probably red and Bones can’t wait to get them out of here so he can examine it thoroughly but this isn’t the time or place.

"As much as I’d like to continue in like this for and indefinite amount of time Jim, this isn’t the time or place.  It’s really unsanitary actually.  Too many chemicals to have sex."

Jim’s the one laughing this time and he nips at Bones’s bottom lip before pulling away.  “Fine, let’s pull the rest of these damn prints quickly because I’d really like to fuck you and I don’t think we want to use the back of our rental.”

Needless to say they finish in record time.


End file.
